DeepSeek
Free AI chat assistant from Hangzhou-based DeepSeek, with DeepThink reasoning, web search and a low-cost API.
Free API
Bottom line
DeepSeek is a free AI chat assistant from a Chinese AI lab, with a reasoning mode and web search. Recruiters can use it to draft outreach, rewrite job ads and work through Boolean strings at no cost. There is no paid consumer plan; the chat app is free and the API is billed per token.
Stands out for: The chat app is completely free with no subscription tier, and the API is among the cheapest published, with off-peak rates at half the peak price.
Watch out for: DeepSeek's privacy policy says personal data is collected, processed and stored in the People's Republic of China, and it asks users not to submit sensitive personal data, so keep candidate details out of it. There are no team workspaces, admin controls or business plan.
Overview
DeepSeek is a general AI chat assistant built by Hangzhou DeepSeek Artificial Intelligence Co., the lab behind the DeepSeek V4 and R1 open-weight models. It runs on the web and in iOS and Android apps, and it is free to use.
For recruiting work it covers the everyday writing jobs: drafting outreach and follow-ups, rewriting job ads, tightening interview questions and turning messy notes into a summary. The DeepThink mode reasons through harder prompts, such as building a Boolean string from a long job description, and Search pulls in current web results for company research.
There is no paid consumer plan, no team workspace and no admin console, so it works as a personal tool rather than a team platform. It does not connect to an ATS, email or LinkedIn.
The API is the paid side of the product. The deepseek-flash model costs $0.30 per 1M input tokens and $1.20 per 1M output tokens at peak, with off-peak hours at half price, which makes it a cheap engine for anyone building internal recruiting tools.
The main caution is data handling. DeepSeek's privacy policy states that personal data is stored in China and that the service is not meant for sensitive personal data, so recruiters should keep résumés and candidate details out of the chat.
Who it's for
Best for
- Recruiters who want a capable free assistant for drafting and rewriting
- Testing prompts before paying for a premium assistant
- Developers building low-cost internal tools on the API
Not ideal for
- Teams that paste candidate personal data into chats
- Companies that need admin controls, SSO or a signed data agreement
Key features
Free chat. The web and mobile app costs nothing to use, with no paid consumer tier.
DeepThink. A reasoning mode that works through harder questions step by step before answering.
Search. Pulls current web results into answers.
Open-weight models. DeepSeek publishes its V4 and R1 models, and its API accepts both OpenAI and Anthropic request formats.
AI features
| What the AI does | Plan |
|---|---|
| Drafts outreach, job ads and interview questions | Free |
| DeepThink reasoning for complex prompts like Boolean strings | Free |
| Web search for company and market research | Free |
Only features named in the vendor's own documentation. Anything sold separately is marked as an add-on.
Pricing
The DeepSeek web and mobile chat app is free to use, and no consumer subscription plan is published. The API is pay-as-you-go from a topped-up balance: the deepseek-flash model costs $0.30 per 1M input tokens (cache miss) and $1.20 per 1M output tokens at peak hours, with off-peak rates at half price; deepseek-v4-pro costs $1.32 input and $3.96 output per 1M tokens at peak. Confirm current terms on the vendor site.
Checked 15 Oct 2026. Vendors change prices without notice.
Is DeepSeek expensive?
DeepSeek starts at Free. We list 21 AI assistants tools in total. 18 have a free tier, and those with a public price typically start around $19 a month.
- 2 quote-based
- 18 free tier
- 14 public price
Worked out automatically from every AI assistants listing, so it updates as the directory changes.
Pros and cons
Pros
- Free chat app with no subscription needed
- DeepThink reasoning and web search included free
- Very low API prices with half-price off-peak hours
Cons
- Personal data is stored in China under its privacy policy
- No team plan, admin controls or business workspace
- No built-in connections to email, calendar or recruiting tools
What's new at DeepSeek
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How DeepSeek compares
See all DeepSeek alternatives, with what each one does differently and a head to head for every pairing.
| Tool | Free tier | From | MCP | API | Compare |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| DeepSeek (this tool) | ✓ | Free | – | ✓ | |
| | ✓ | $8/mo | – | ✓ | Compare |
| | ✓ | $17/mo | – | ✓ | Compare |
 Qwen Another free chat assistant, with image generation and Deep Research reports built in. | ✓ | Free | – | ✓ | Compare |
$8/mo Free tier API
Adds projects, scheduled tasks and a Business plan where data is never used for training, from $8/mo.
$17/mo Free tier API
Better for long résumé stacks and documents, with a Team plan and US data handling.
QwenFree Free tier API
Another free chat assistant, with image generation and Deep Research reports built in.
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